This blog contains personal reflections on Sahaja Life by practitioners of the Sahaja technique. Sahaja is the path of enlightened knowledge, as opposed to other forms of yoga and meditation, which profess singular paths like devotion-only (bhakti path). Growth in Sahja happens by experiential knowldge acquisition.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Very touching and inspiring movie (C&CF 2005) with the simple message of how, when a powerful personality decides to find an heir to their kingdom, their search is for the most innocent of all to inherit the vast kingdom.

But the Powerful One wants to flush out the ones stricken by baser attachment and creates illusions to eliminate them. The innocent one survives, without the illusions ever touching him.

Wonka knows, the heir has to be innocent, and if truly is, no test of temptation will entrap the true hier to the factory.

The other contenders fall to the seven sins (Western thought) or the six enemies (Hindu thought) and eliminate themselves. Greed, Lust, Anger, Vanity and everything you can imagine becomes self-defeating for all of Charlie's competitors. Charlie is too innocent to realize the competitiveness, he just enjoys the ride, appreciates the little creations and maintains a polite and dignified stance.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Here he is in Q&A Chat with school children... full chat here. Some gems from the chat...

Saahil Kaul (Eicher School Faridabad, 14 yrs): hi sir! i have seen that usually scientists have long hair for example take issac newton. Sir, u has been a nuclear scientist you and u have long hair too. What i was wondering was wheter it is a kind of lucky charm or something of scientists to keep long hair?

President APJ Abdul Kalam: Hair just grows. We should concentrate on our work.

Ravanth Baskaran (Tampines Primary School,Singapore, 8 yrs): What was the first incident that made you take an interest to science?

President APJ Abdul Kalam: When I was 10 years boy, my science teacher in the 5th class taught me how birds fly, coupled with mission of my life.

President APJ Abdul Kalam: No. Particularly, the primary and secondary education. The teacher is very vital link. Beyond secondary education, tele-education is possible

Saman,Sara and Ali (All Saints and Sherwood college,Nainital, 14 yrs): Why don't people live peacefully?Can't you do something about it?Pass laws impose rules to make this World worth living.People fighting over mandir masjid,when God created mankind he knew best.He would not have created muslims hindus togather.Please comment.

Riya Sinha (Ursuline Convent School,Khalari, Ranchi,Jharkhand, 8 yrs): Respected uncle, I am a 8 years old girl residing in a remote place of Jharkhand named 'Dakra'. This region is MCC infected and frequent incidents of violence take place in this region. I think that "Corruption" and 'faith to distorted philosophy' is the region behind this act of terror. What govt is doing to eradicate corruption from society? -Riya Sinha Std IV Ursuline Convent School, Khalari, Jharkhand

President APJ Abdul Kalam: I believe, corruption in the society can be eliminated in two ways. 1. We elect right representatives to legislatures and parliament. 2. Corruption free society starts from a righteous home. In my view corruption can be eliminated only by three people namely mother, father and elementary school teacher. As children you can also point out if anything is done wrong in your home. There will definitely be a change because of the love and affection of the child.

naina gautam (St'Thomas College, dehradun, 12 yrs): Sir i would like to ask whom do you admire the most in this world? What are the secrets of your success? Were you a naughty child during your school days? I will hope you will answer my simple questions please answer them!!!

President APJ Abdul Kalam: Of course my parents. I always remember my teacher who gave me the vision for my life while teaching how the birds fly. Since I studied during 1940s, naturally if you are naughty you will be canned. I have experienced that.

Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Ville had prepared a presentation on Nabhi which was translated into English by Denis. There were certain interesting things to me, personally, which I was unaware of - like the left Nabhi can be cured by affirmation of the Agnya Chakra because the release mechanisms of both are the same. Very interesting bit of information.

Shared the incident in the past week where an intern in my office felt his realization and how he went back home and meditated along with his sister, 11, who was looking for a means to ease her school work related tensions.

The new thing found was: awareness of chakras in preteens and teens through Anime comics and films. Lots of martial arts heroes in these movies use paranormal powers of the sympathetic sides which has captured the fancy of this age group. This curiosity alone propelled these two kids to find their Kundalini, waiting for ages to be recognized. Both, without any suggestion felt the same feelings on getting realization - conical spray of vibrations through the Sahasrara, cool breeze on the right hand. A significant family event in the near past had caused their lefts to go heavy, which is the side of emotions and forefathers.

Friday, November 4, 2005

Villie led the center with elucidations of the human nervous system and relationship to subtle system. Defining the terms “Sympathetic Nervous System”, “Parasympathetic Nervous System”, “Autonomous Nervous System”.

Another interesting topic she elucidated for the benefit of newcomers was that of the mechanism of Kundalini rising: How the Kundalini first rises through the innermost channel (Brahmanadi), encounters the Mardha, a plate/membrane on the lower side of the brain, spreads there creating soothing sensations, goes down the Ida/Pingala and comes up again through all three channels, going out through the Sahasrara. Incidentally, I was reading the exact same stuff in the Advent on the bus that morning! Those are subtle miracles which are enjoyed to the best extent here, in This Sahaja Life!

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

In response to a question from a yogini, how exactly do western terms map to the subtle system in Sahaja Yoga, here is the compilation:

Glossary: Nervous System & Subtle System Relationships

The nervous system is the body's information gatherer, storage center and control system.

The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system.

The peripheral nervous system is responsible for the body functions which are not under conscious control - like the heartbeat or the digestive system. The smooth operation of the peripheral nervous system is achieved by dividing it into sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. These are opposing actions and check on each other to provide a balance.

PNS = Autonomous NS + Sympathetic NS

= ANS + LSNS + RSNS

ANS = Subtle System

Ida Nadi = Left Sympathetic Nervous system (LSNS)

Pingala Nadi = Right Sympathetic NS (RSNS)

Sushumna Nadi = Parasympathetic NS (Not Known to Western Science)

Autonomic Nervous System

The Autonomic Nervous System is that part of PNS consisting of motor neurons that control internal organs. It has two subsystems. The autonomic system controls muscles in the heart, the smooth muscle in internal organs such as the intestine, bladder, and uterus. The Sympathetic Nervous System is involved in the fight or flight response. The Parasympathetic Nervous System is involved in relaxation. Each of these subsystems operates in the reverse of the other (antagonism). Both systems innervate the same organs and act in opposition to maintain homeostasis. For example: when you are scared the sympathetic system causes your heart to beat faster; the parasympathetic system reverses this effect.

Motor neurons in this system do not reach their targets directly (as do those in the somatic system) but rather connect to a secondary motor neuron which in turn innervates the target organ.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Alaska got its first Sahaja Yoga public program last month. The name Alaska is derived from the Aleut word "Alyeska," meaning "great land." (www.solcomhouse.com/alaska.htm).

This is a groundbreaking event to treasure. The program was conducted at the ATOM (Ascended Teachings of Masters) Center. It was quite warm to see that the events director for the ATOM center openly invited any Sahaja Yogi to visit her when they are in Anchorage, Alaska. The heart widens with joy.

The yogini, Anna M. of New York, further wrote about the vibrational potency of Mt McKinley situated in Denali Park and the vibrations were strong as I read the report. Onward to Alaska on the subtle train. :)v

Russians take photocopiers to public programs. Only Sahaja Yoga creates such a stir in public venues which is exhilerating and irreplacable. Anastasia, a yogini from the Collective of Nizhny Novgorod in Russia reports in the DSY forum

We, the collective of a Russian city, Nizhny Novgorod, would like toshare with you the experience...This time we were even more prepared: there were leaflets, a poster with a picture of Shri Mataji and the scheme of the subtle body, copies of the articles on Kundalini and sensitivity of hands, copies of Shri Mataji's public talk I Bow to All the Seekers. And of course (as usual) we had a Xerox machine (it is really irreplaceable!) and flowers on our table...

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

There was laughter. There were stories. There were serious moments of contemplation. There were engaging retrospectives. There were touching moments at the Wednesday Sahaja Yoga Meditation Meeting in Ann Arbor.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Sahaja & Science: Blossoming in a Scientifically Aware SocietyDrawing inspiration from the work done by Australian scientists at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney, Australia, I decided to investigate the use and applicability of these preliminary findings. One of the first things I realized was, despite the preliminary finding being published in a peer reviewed journal, the road ahead was hard to negotiate. The question is how to inspire a seeker's confidence in an age where faith-based interventions have done their damage by presenting themselves as snake-oil peddlers?The CHADD Factsheet#6 is an excellent document which provides suggestions to treatment seekers against false treatments and doubtable interventions. It reminds me of an excellent series of lectures delivered by a professor in a Public Health post-graduate school, who critically evaluates alternate therapies and therapists and the motivating undercurrent. One interesting point brought up was that a certain category of Alternative & Complementary Medicine practitioners have established their reportoire through political lobbying. That being a means to the end of having patients legally bill the associated fees to their insurance providers. Money, thus, is the bottomline being fought over. When it comes to acceptance of meditation as a supporting activities, these hurdles should not matter, because meditation when offered as a no-charge activity by established practitioners should clearly establish its not-for-profit nature. Taking it another step forward, a not-for-charge service because payment does not guarantee the meditative experience. So why there should be charges?I hope the preliminary findings in Australia can blossom into a large body of validating studies before specific meditation practices can find their ways into the United State's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicines list of approved practices for the scientific cause. It might take another 10-15 years to produce appropriate evidence, as medical science seeks multiple studies to validate the effectiveness of an intervention or treatment.

The writer lives & works in a liberal college town in North America. This article is inspired by the slew of fly-by-night operators who have damaged the sensitivity of educated seekers through their empty promises. TheFactsheet referenced is "Assessing Complementary and Controversial Interventions" available via CHADD.org. CHADD is the Michigan Resource for ADD affected Adults and Children.

Thursday, September 8, 2005

Janjaals are literally "Quagmires". The left side loops down in descent infinitely and a person with wrong, restrictive, left-sided ideas can infinitely loose himself in the unending maze of the left side. The sustaining forces for such a person are conditionings, heresay and secondhand knowledge which is never guaranteed to be pure. This vulnerability protects the person from being a social menace, but becomes a menace to its own existance. The ideas, aka bhoots (past-based-constructs, conditionings) take such deep roots that a immature realized soul can get lost in the stupidity of beliefs.

Practice of life rather than being a spirit-sustained living experiment becomes a hurried, scary rollercoaster of believing in just ideas rather than being powered by the spirit. The spirit is behind the clouds and can come out and shine in the presence of the Kundalini. It is the Holy Kundalini as Shri Durga that will extract these left-sided souls and show them light and a life of balanced living.

In my personal case, it is taking time. Being an alumni of that dangerous school of thought where there is a practice of life based on country-conditionings rather than the spirit. Unable to get vibrations for a while after realization should put an honest question: "Why cant I feel vibrations if I am realized?" But there are plenty of stupid ideas that circulate saying "Its allright, you'll get it" or "It doesn't matter when you are doing it from the heart" etc. Nothing wrong with these ideas floating around, except that they cannot back themselves up in the long run.

Being an Asian Indian in this birth, it was easy to pull off tricks that make apparent the daily conduct as being a yogi. But the western-born is also vulnerable to karmakand [ritualistic perfection] to sustain the drama of "yogi-ness", if you will.

This blog has commented on honesty before, but not with this new found perspective. Solutions to all problems left or right, are well expounded on by Shri Mataji's talks in the 70s, 80s and 90s. These living artefacts of evolution explain in astounding detail the problems we have.

The problem with our problems is the fact that the mind is smart enough to cloak it with excuses and render them either genetic & unsolvable [superegoistic] or not-a-problem [egoistic]. Humans can live with the problems. Adjust to them. Unconciously feed them. When the light shines down, when the cleanup time comes, it reveals the tragedy of the rottenness these problems have caused without our knowing.

A speculation on why we do not know about problems: Not because we are unevolved, but probably because we are the most evolved on earth. Our immunity blesses us with strength to do routine activities, even carry on wrong lifestyles without sensing the destruction... because of the vastness of the inner space. Like theivery in a large corporation goes unnoticed.

I can tell you a zillion times: stop identifying with the defective soul and identify with the spirit. But to make it happen, to actualize it, needs the supercharged voice of Her Holiness Shri Mataji. I hope this post awakens inspiration in those who have hit a deadend or those who have a nervous idea that they are comfortably allright & they have finished their achievements.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

The other morning I had a mild run-in with a government worker who knocked on our door and asked us to move our car so his crew could dig up and destroy our only park place on the street. Even after a couple of decades in Sahaja Yoga, I still tend to over-react to unimportant, mundane events that come my way. But after this relatively insignificant incident, I experienced a new level of solidarity with the Divine.

Shortly afterwards I sat at the table and drew clockwise circles around a problem to be burned that I had written on a scrap of paper. Just like so many times before, I took the names of deities, devas and angels to help in the process. But this time a whole new depth of understanding and familiarity opened up between myself and our invisible, divine Friends. In contrast to the insecure feeling left in me by the construction worker, I realized how much I can rely on these People (as Shri Mataji once referred to them :-)

Imagine friends so dedicated that they are always there, ready to eagerly help you, even when you neglect them. The feeling of love and confidence that suddenly shone inside me is certainly something no human being should live without.

May everyone get their chance to discover and admire our great Friends who smile on us from the universe within.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

If you are familiar with the Ramayana, you might remember that Sita ji was abducted by Ravana. How can such a tower of negativity, Ravana, even come close to Sitaji, the Adishakti? Let alone forcibly abduct her? The fact was that Agni devata had replaced the true Shri Sita with a "Chaya Sita" for the entrapment of Ravana. After the episode of Ravana was over, Agni returned the true Shri Sita during the staging of Agni-pariksha.

I don't know if this satiates the question about the nature of Mahamaya. Our limited intellect tends to draw conclusions, and its not our fault. Our job is probably to rise above it and feel the subtle truth of matters that challenge us.

If you are interested in another example...

Another Rakshasha and his wife created havoc on earth for thousands of years. Finally he battled against the army of Shiva, The Adishakti and Shri Ganesha. His life was that of a lust & power oriented demon. The war lasted thousands of years and he was finally defeated. On his defeat, he ascended to the heavens. WHAT???? What a contradiction. But hold the phone...

The so called demon was Krishna's friend Sudama, who had crossed his boundaries and insulted Shri Radha. To correct his imbalance he had to spend just a moment (in divine terms) correcting it. Shri Radha helped him through the process by helping him clearout on his way to heaven. However, this 'moment' in Goloka translated to thousands years on Prithvi Loka [Earth]. And all the drama ensued in that universe where the villian who apparently fought the divine, was fulfilling a balacing activity.

Another example, the popular story of Shumbha-Nishumbha, if I remember corectly. The elder one, the most important one, after being slayed, also ascended to the heavens, i think.

Many such cases boggle the mind and then calm it completely, assurance us to rely only on vibrations and not on heresay to draw our conclusions. It is impossible to understand with the mind, really. Hope this helps and was worth it.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

... into two kinds of people, last Tuesday. The stuck & the non-stuck. A majority of people who had ventured out last Tuesday never realized that thier hour commute back home would be stretched to a horror ordeal of upto 36 hours. It was a scene out of last summer's blockbuster "The Day After Tommorow". Bombay was flooded for more than its normal six hours. People stood still in traffic for 24 hours. They turned off engines and slept in cars. They climbed on top of bus roofs and witnessed the slowly consumed bus. There was no disaster management plan on cards for the state. People suffered. A lot. My sister returned the day after she left for her first day of work. She roughed it out in her new office. She swapped stories and watercooler gossip which would have taken atleast a few months to propogate. But lights out, and bosses airlifted by choppers, the employees had a great day.

I was in the category of the un-stuck. Saved by Shri Mataji quite literally. The meditation meetings are on Tuesdays so I decided to meetup with local relatives. As a result, I had to super the ordeal of waiting in the dark for the stuck people. Cell phones were down, and the weakness of technology was exposed. But Bombay has been washed clean it seems now, as the hands burn a little less than before.

When going around relatives houses. The most funny are the obstinate, over the hill, disease inflicted grandmas. They are bags of complaints with the usual diabeties and BP problems. They proudly display the range of medication they are on and how many times they have gone under the surgeon's knife. They give thier complete chronology of disease, unsolicited. But they have to be borne until the real entertainer steps in: the housewife.

She will tell tales of how she is bringing up kids. Or if kids are grown up, the adventures of finding them matches for marriages. They hardly realize, once they marry off their children they have a while before they go into the first category. But afflictionless, they are happy, funny and tolerant. The food they serve is not an option to eat. They reserve the bullying rights to make guest eat up whatever is served. Their happiness lies wholly in seeing people eat.

The really nourishing members of the household retuirn to break the eating spell: the children. If in school, they entertain you with their artistic works, which are really nourishing. But if grown up and working, they are replicas of their moms and dads, depending on their gender. But this is the only department where nourishment for the soul can be expected.

The least likely person I stumbled across was da man of da house. Nervous smile hiding a dam of oppression at work and suppression at home from the first two departments. His nourishment is also the third category. That is if he choses them to be and does not hammer them at every little mistake. Some of these prefer to have a death like silence over the bulbbly brrok of children noises.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

When I recall his parting wordsMust I accept his fateOr take myself far from this placeI thought I heard a black bell tollA little bird did singMan has no choiceWhen he wants everything

We'll rise above the scarlet tideThat trickles down through the mountainAnd separates the widow from the bride

Man goes beyond his own decisionGets caught up in the mechanismof swindlers who act like kingsAnd brokers who break everythingThe dark of night was swiftly fadingClose to the dawn of dayWhy would I want him just to lose him again

We'll rise above the scarlet tideThat trickles down through the mountainAnd separates the widow from the bride

We'll rise above the scarlet tideThat trickles down through the mountainand separates the widow from the bride.

Tuesday, July 5, 2005

Friday, June 17, 2005

Ed (Name changed for privacy protection) needed to check whether he could feel his Kundalini and he felt a distinct feeling. He describes it as feeling "static" electricity between his scalp and the palm of the hand.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Friday, June 10, 2005

I love Miyazaki. Why? Becuase herions dont need to become agressively macho (Kim Possible) to convey strength, spirit and dignity. This NY Times review puts it nicely... What are they talking about? Just compare our Kim with any Miyazaki herion:

Both pack action and adventure. Both fight evil. But the difference lies in connection with the self, enlightened approach and selflessness. Beautiful creations of Miyazaki!

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Sunday, May 22, 2005

People come. People get realization. People vanish into the thick of the external world. Sometimes we ask why?

Some of us see ourselves. We get our realization but for an extended period of time are not enjoying vibrations. For years sometimes. Like some unfinished business before they can journey inwards and enjoy the ocean of all pervading bliss.

Some seekers, like Emiko, feel the depth and joy right off the bat. Day 1. No need for 5 week courses. These are mostly female.

This quote explained it all!

"1984-01-19 (ego- superego)

"Some people start feeling the awareness of that unbounding love as soon as they get their realisation. But in some people they have more of an ego trip left to be finished, so they come to me. I find they are flying in the air like bubbles and as if blown by the nourishing Mother, blown out like the bubbles on the surface of the sea. And there are many who are suffering from superego, they get mixed up with the sand and become very heavy and all the time weeping and crying about personal things. But, once the thing clicks, they become one with the Spirit of the ocean. Then they feel that deep, joyous force of the sea which nourishes them, guides them and elevates them every moment. Like deep down in the sea they go and there they find the beautiful pearls of eternal experiences, and when they find these pearls they bring to me as poems, as dances, as smiles, as laughter, as enjoyment. These are all within you, and they lie there away from your consciousness."

Monday, May 16, 2005

I have been quizzed about India's Cast system, which is a purely political fabrication in currrent times. But that dread exists in the states too: Just look at this NYTimes article that follows experiences of people from various self-defined classes of society, after they have a heart attack. Go here

Tuesday, May 3, 2005

I am living in the twilight zone... now more towards the sunnier side, but dragging my slower foot which is moving out from the dark zone ever so slowly. Sometimes, it scares me as I feel that the receding dark age will suck me away with it and I will never see the complete golden day of the new age.

Living in the twilight zone is not easy. Since the darkness and the light are facing off one final time before sunrise of the new golden age, the weather inside imitates the changes outside. Like Shri Mataji described, she saw two worlds... one going down and one rising up for the new age of truth.

The trap of the glamor:The unfortunate failure of half-baked souls can be attributed to tendencies posessed by them, over many births maybe. This failure through use of falsehood is prevalent in all walks of life. Corporate shareholders of Enron to conceited followers of spiritual movements, who were attracted by shortcuts and not the true merits of whatever they embraced.

The newly elected Dean of the School of Public Health (UM, Ann Arbor), said in his address while a candidate for the position, how he would approach progress. He mentioned the value of truth. He mentioned the value of resisting the temptation of bending it to suit one's needs or proove one's point. Especially, during these changing times, when the stars are on the upswing and the meritious and deserving are being blessed with profits they deserve, the weak and greedy are easy to fall into illusions which promise them shortcuts to the same successes.

The attitude in spiritual movements, sometimes is pretty darned same and hurts seekers of truth. Promise of miraculous recoveries, and instant gratification of materialistic desires and other fantastic magic as as prevalent as experiences of true transformation of the heart. Gandhi said, of God is what He is, He should not only provide for, but also transform the heart of the devotee by ruling it. God's true miracles are the gradual transformations in the hearts of people and not a windfall of wealth overnight. The transformation of the heart will spread to the entire body bringing internal relief to maladies and restore sanity in the blackholed brain of the seeker of truth.

Shri Mataji has warned against people who claim that after their self-realization, they suddenly had an influx of money or some other material benefit. She gravely put down those claims, reminding us that God does not know money as humans do. That is not an act of God. My guess is, that is the sinister act of the dark-side to build undue expectations from God. A very intricately laid down final act of entrapment.

Bending the Truth:Is impossible. I heard that, allright. It is Shri Mataji's opening declaration in many a public program. But when I fell into the temptation of bending it for gaining brownie points in the haste to gain ascent, all the so-called profit from bending the truth was neutralized. But to see that in humility wasn't possible unless the light of Kundalini started demonstrating it to me. I was asked to parter in a very important area of my life with a certain individual whose lower areas were subtly afflicted beyong repair. This subtle "catch" indicates the innate weakness of character. But going by the qualifications, I was willing to bend the truth, saying, allright lets start the partnership and the person will come around. That person started to dabble in politics and illegal affairs and ended up being ejected from the partnership. The enterprise ended there, four months into what was supposed to be a "until-death-do-us-part".

The Legacy:The group susceptible to illegal, sinister, truth-bending, falsifying activities are those who act more on the basis of the left side. The left side problems, ascribed as most dangerous, are found amonsgt many countries, including India. In India, atleast before 2000, the media being poorly developed and communication being inaccessible, twisted individuals had a ball bending the truth, gaining milage out of spiced up data and all kinds of make-believe. That prevailed in all arenas... more importantly spiritualism. India is a land where there are true spiritual movements: Adi Shankaracharya, Islam, Vedic traditions, Vaishnavite, Shaivite, Devi etc. But people have had a nice time bending truths and glamorising events to an extent that if the originators would hear of their stories now they would be dumbfounded.

An example is, Guru Moses crossing the Void region for the collective attention. This is an event at the subtle level where the Kundalini takes the attention from the Nabhi to Anahata plexus. Without that knowledge, the movie "The Ten Commandments" looks like a metaphor for nothing. The parting of the sea is a metaphor for something that did occur at the subtle level. The burning bush, the promised land: External drama following the truthful occurances in the subtle system of the collective unconcious.

Back to bending the truth: There is an inherent danger. A grave danger. If you exaggerate, falsify, glamorize in order to gain a member to your community... you will attract low level people of that exact sort into your community. That community can be a center for research in public health, a collective of investors or a community of followers of The Godhead. Sooner or later, these product of bent truth will exhaust their own resources and come out concieted and angry. Their reaction and self-deception will exhume themselves and possibly those who lead them into that deception. I am quite sure that this post in my blog today will possibly never be read, as I am warning those whom I cannot speak to directly. Their own challenges have clouded their experience and they stand out, threatening to blow the show for worse.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Rathadhwaja was a King, who’s forefathers had respected Goddess Laxmi but the attention on A-Laxmi (principles against Laxmi Tattwa) were on the rise. In their traditions the attention on the true Laxmi Tattwa degenerated over the generations and there came a time when the light of the blessing was nowhere. As the external events in a kingdom follow its subtle collective state, Rathadhwaja faced defeat in battles and lost all the kingdom and posessions. But his sons Kushadhwaja and Dharmadhwaja realized the subtle reason’s behind the calamity and meditated on Shri Laxmi, inviting her to grace their family again. Shri Laxmi, pleased with their realization and humility, blessed them with Her own birth in the household.

Shri Laxmi was born as a daughter to Malavati and Kushadhwaja. Being a divine personality she was full of grace and accompanied by auspicious signs during Her birth. The Vedas were on Her lips at a tender age, and hence She become reknowned as Vedavati. Being a high souled personality, she was clear about Her purpose on the earth and travelled to the holy land of Pushkara to meditate on the Highest Cause. On the other hand, through Her advent, the position of the family was restored in the world as the ruling family. During her penances and meditations a point came where She was blessed with an announcement from the heavens: “You have achieved the state where you will marry Shri Vishnu Himself, but not before being born again.” Vedavati continued her meditation, knowing Her self and Her high destiny.

It was probably the need to wait for the perfect time before the divine pair of Laxmi-Narayana came on the earth, because in the time of Her next birth She became Shri Sita who married Vishnu-incarnate Shri Rama. However, the divine play had not been over in this birth for her, as She met the asura Ravana during Her life as Vedavati.

The Ravana episode unviels reasons behind the divine play of Ramayana, where Shri Sita became the cause of Ravana’s death and destruction. Ravana was an extremely accomplished, arrogant and torturous ruler. In his power and glory he had no recognition or respect for Shri Narayana or other divine personalities. All deities were displeased with him and all creatures were oppressed by him. He collected taxes. Those who could not pay, like hermits in forests, had to pay with their flesh and blood. His rule was a reign of terror, which needed an end.

However, during the life of Vedavati, Ravana was travelling by air and made a stopover at Vedavati’s hermitage. She, bringing forth Her true gracious nature, hosted Ravana as a guest and made his visit hospitable. Seeing the absolute divine form of Vedavati, he enquired about Her life. She told him about Her nature, Her penance and Her distiny, including her future life with Shri Vishnu. Ravana, being covered in ego, laughed and derided Vedavati’s destiny. He proposed marriage to her and to make his point called the high-souled Narayana an inferior being to him. In a last attempt he tried to force Vedavati into his control by pulling Her hair, which brought Her rage forward. She declared: “You have attempted to cast your shadow over me and hence I will give up this tainted body to the hermitage fire, but I will be your cause of destruction and death, Ravana!”

Years passed and while Raja Janaka ploughed the fields during the oppressive times of Ravana-rule, he hit upon an earthen object with his plough. From the forrows of the earth came Shri Sita, with Riddhi-Siddhi on the sides. Riddhi-Siddhi dissappeared instantaneously and the true nature of Shri Sita was revealed to Raja Janaka. Later, in the swayamwara ceremony, Shri Rama married Shri Sita. But truly intriguing is the episode with Agni devata during Rama’s exile.

During the exile, when Shri Rama, Sita and Laxmana were in the forests, Shri Agni devata came forth and informed Shri Rama of the divine destiny of Ravana’s destruction. Since the true nature of Shri Sita was that of the Adishakti, Ravana cannot bear to face her. Hence, Agni devata brought forth a “Chhaya Sita” i.e. Shri Sita’s shadow for the fulfillment of the divine purpose. Shri Sita took refuge in the fire untill the task of destroying Ravana was over. Ravana took the Chhaya Sita and Shri Raama defeated him and ended his time on earth.

Shri Sita, the worldmother, returned to her original form during the “agni-pariksha”. The agni actually took away the Chaaya Sita and returned the original pure Janaki. This wonderful set of events that gives a fresh perspective on the Ramayana we have heard and seen is found between the covers of the Devi Mahatmyam.

There is an indefinable mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power which makes itself felt and yet defies all proof because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses. But it is possible to reason-out the existence of God to a limited extent.

Even in ordinary affairs, we know that people do not know who rules or why and how He rules. And yet they know that there is a power that certainly rules. In my tour last year in Mysore, I met many poor villagers and I found upon enquiring that they did not know who rules Mysore. They simply said, "Some God ruled it." If the knowledge of these poor people was so limited about their ruler, I, who an infinite lesser in respect to God than they to their ruler, need not be surprised, If I do not realize the presence of God, the King of Kings.

Nevertheless, I do feel as the poor villagers felt about Mysore, that there is orderliness in the universe. There is an unalterable law governing everything and every being that exists or lives.

It is not a blind law. For no blind law can govern the conduct of living beings. And thanks to the marvelous researches of Sir JC Bose, it can now be proved that even matter is life. That law, then, which governs all life is God! Law and the law-giver are one. I need not deny the law or the law-giver because I know so little about it or him. Just as my denial or ignorance of the existence of an earthly power will avail me nothing, even so my denial of God and His law will not liberate me from this oppression. Whereas humble and new acceptance of Divine authority makes life's journey easier even as the acceptance of earthly rules makes life under it easier. I do dimly perceive that whilst everything around me is ever-changing, ever-dying, there is underlying all that change, a living power that is changeless, that holds all together – that creates, dissolves and recreates. That informing power of spirit is God and since nothing else that I see merely through the senses, can or will persist, He alone is!

And is this power benevolent or malevolent? I see as purely benevolent, for I can see that in the midst of death, life persists. In the midst of untruth, truth persists. In the midst of darkness, light persists. Hence I gather that God is life, truth, light. He is love. He is the supreme good.

But, He is no God who merely satisfies the intellect, if He ever does. God, to be God must rule the heart and transform it. He must express Himself in every smallest act of His ?????. This can only be done through a definite realization. More real than the five senses can ever prove use. Sense perceptions can be and often are false and deceptive. However real they may appear to us. Where there is realization outside the senses, it is infallible. It is proved not by extreme extraneous evidence, but in the transformed conduct and character of those who have felt the real presence of God within. Such testimony is to be found in the experiences of an unbroken line of prophets and sages in all countries in time. To reject this evidence is to deny oneself.

This realization is preceded by an immovable faith. He who would in his own person, test the fact of God's presence can do so by a living faith. And since faith itself cannot be proved by extraneous evidence, the safest course is to believe in the moral government of the world and therefore in the supremacy of the moral law: The law of truth and love.

Exercise of faith will be safest – where there is a clear determination, summarily to reject all that is contradictory to truth and love. I confess that I have no argument to convince through reason. Faith transcends reason. All that I can advice is not to attempt the impossible.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Ja rule is - if ya can't create them, bunch them together. However, the optimist would say that The League of X Gentlemen is a bouquet of fine characters, seeking the eternal and good in them, while they havn't been exactly heroes in their recent pasts.

The 2003 movie has good actors and nice action. Images are too dark and fast and creates a sense of loss of visual richness due to speed. Could have used slo-mo like in Charlie's Angels or other cult classics to actually deliver the action.

But nice movie. Nice make up and effects. And a nice Captian Nemo, the indegenously manufactured Nasiruddin Shah. The submarine nautilus is a swimming Hindu temple+palace. The diving deck is a Shiva linga and dieties all around. The set and clothes designers must have picked up a coffee table book on Hinduism.

Ok. If you like to be depressed in hope that a 9 hour movie has a happy ending, and dont mind being served a sad end... Cold Mountain is for ya! Anyways, the music score is the great part as per VPSM (Vic's Personal Standard for Movies TM). The recurring theme is the detached love expressed in "Ain True Love"*, which is powerful poetry rendered very well. Other country music is inspiring. Images in the movie are powerful without being disgustingly surreal.

* The day later i posted this post, i found these awesome lyrics were none other than Sting. Am I surprized? No. Am I enamoured? Yes.

Friday, March 11, 2005

An interesting question came up this week: Do I believe in evil? So Evil got defined as anything that acts without consideration for the whole picture. Made sense, but practically, is it possible to keep getting the whole picture & be in the good books?

A little insight into how evil works is interesting. Evil itself is a part of the whole and cannot function without the knowledge of the whole. So evil goes out and tempts free-willed humans to take a bite. Ordinary humans, without enlightenment will resist, forming an artificial barrier of mortality between the soulscape and the external. As the external evil approaches the conditioned soul, the conditionings will set up a shield and refuse fortright - e.g. a teen will automatically say no to drugs if there are no holes in the shield of positive conditioning.

But the external evil does not give up. It tempts, saying, a little wont do harm and creates a small access through the conditioning shield. The shield of our conditioning is always shallow and in this darkest of all ages, the evil is strong enough to penetrate it, by small excursions followed up by fuller attacks. Once the evil creates access ways, then it becomes a daily commuter route for evil to come in and party in the soul - addiction sets in.

So now the poor soul is hit by the addiction, cannot quit by free will as the access paths are now clearly developed. Any mental approach fails due to the simple fact that the external evil is strongest during these ages. It needs to be. How else will the truest gold be separated from the chaff?

When all external seeking fails, the internal seeking starts. A solution from the core, from the inside. A source to sustain that shield - a source to nourish that shield - a source to keep the shield from going down. A source that is inexhaustible.

So when the self-realization sets in, the shield is now intermittently connected to the spirit during meditation and is relatively impenetrable. But again, due to lack of continuous connection there are windows of vulnerability created. It might take a long, looong time to make this shield of the soul constantly connected to the spirit to keep it 100% effective. To eliminate all windows of opportunity for evil to creep in.

A day will come, I hope soon, when the shield will be continuously fed with the spirit. Evil waits, in the dark, waiting for the free-willed yogi to create a pause in the connection and it works on accessing the yogi again.

It might be tempting for a yogi to assume failure and surrender to evil which has demonstrated no easy goodbyes so far. God forbid, should the yogi assume failure and reach a mental conclusion to accept the evil's shadow for good.

The shield is Kundalini. The source is the Spirit. The connection is meditation. The battlefield is the yogi's body, soul.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

Sometimes I can't just come to grips with the fact that the passenger seat of the car of my life is empty. My divine designated fellow passenger has toyed with the emergency eject button way too many times and finds herself in a distant land fighting a battle which we could have fought together.

I have had committed "engagements" which ended on account of inevitable geographical separation. So I guess I am not too bad when it comes to making and keeping commitments. I love steadyness, simplicity and honesty. I believe that Ann Arbor, and the mid-west are great places I would like to explore with a special someone. I also like quite evenings at home doing little things. I dont have great expectations but I do like be a part of small & beautiful things that make a relationship feel warm and special. Small things give great pleasure. Short phone calls - to make sure no one is left to the dogs. Sharing the bad moments to display trust and dependence - just adds so much joy to this simple thing of man-woman relationships. Ofcourse all the constructs above require the solid foundation of honesty of purpose and ability to give without counting beans.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

How many roads must a man walk downBefore they call him a man …The answer, my friend, is blowing in the windThe answer is blowing in the wind Bob Dylan, Blowing in the wind (1962)

I came upon a child of God walking down the roadI asked him, where are you going?And this he told me …we are stardust, we are golden,And we got to get ourselves back to the garden Joni Mitchell, Woodstock (1969)

Don't you feel the day is coming, and it won't be too soonWhen the people of the world can all live in one roomWhen we shake off the ancient, shake off the ancient chains of our tombWe will all be born again of the eternal womb. Cat Stevens, Don't you feel a change a coming? (1971)

I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soulWhere I'll end up well I think,Only God really knows Cat Stevens, The Wind (1971)

Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you canNo need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of manImagine all the people sharing all the world…You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only oneI hope some day you'll join us and the world will live as one. John Lennon, Imagine (1971)

… can you hear the wind blow, and did you knowYour stairway lies on the whispering wind Robert Plant, Stairway to Heaven (1971)

… the mother and child reunion is only a motion away Paul Simon, Mother and Child Reunion (1972)

Thursday, February 17, 2005

it is going to take a while before 24/7 thoughtlessness establishes. before that, ego development between meditations and clearing would be inevitable. my quest and urge is how to minimize it? is there a resource to drain the ego frequently? our living Mother Earth is one resort. While we are sitting in the controlled and separated office environment, Mother Kundalini can take the attention to this and other ego-draining elements. The pure & primordial elements which have always existed can be a soap to the filth of ego.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

garfield, the lazy-crazy cat cartoon, is an excellent example of right and left side problem combination in humans. surely its based on the author's keen observation of people around him. the severe left vishuddhi problems he suffers through his food binges makes his organs lethargic. he is sly, jealous, short tempered, sarcastic... the whole laundry list of shadripus.

Now don't laugh at me when I say he has ADD. He is stuck to TV, cannot concentrate, waking up takes a huge toll on him. anxiety kills his effectiveness. right side issues develop as an outgrowth of left side problems. Aggression, sarcasm, greed, gluttony, violent trends, disrespect of authority... I can go on until someone throws bricks at me. but dont get me wrong here. i am just seeing my past in him, not you. he he.

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

read meat seems to have induced excessive right sided heat up of lower chakras of those who consume it in the long term. a 50% increase in chances of colon cancer speaks volumes. Although I dont eat red meat, but a fellow yogi had commented on increased heat in the mooladhara after consumption of hamburgers. what are the further ramifications? if red meat affects the lower chakras then the sexual & reproductive health of individuals might also be effected, i havn't seen evidence in this regard yet.